So it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, toys in every store…but, the prettiest sight to see…well, that varies, doesn’t it?

December calendars are chalked full with decorating, sending cards, shopping, hosting and attending parties, …shopping some more, celebrating, cooking and cleaning up.

While a whole lot of folks today think we don’t need and don’t have time to ask the point of Christmas…

Don’t kill the buzz. Relax! How many reasons do we need to have a month-long celebration? Besides, who says which point is the right one?

…there is a Big Point that originated with God, way back in time. It’s perspective and truth that we do not want to miss.In society, the majority typically rules in establishing culture. This dynamic is certainly in play when it comes to how we view Christmas. As a society, we’ve proven our amazing knack for trivializing the momentous, ignoring the profound and embracing the superficial.

We’ve marginalized it.

Simplified it.

Distracted from it.

Established laws against it.

De-emphasized and blurred the core point of it.

So What is the Point of Christmas?

The purpose of this 3-week series is to revisit Christmas from God’s perspective.Over the next three weeks, we will examine the dynamics of the Baby in the manger and look at the point of what Jesus’ birth means for mankind.Our goal in this series is to spur men on to a closer walk with Jesus, Immanuel – God with us.I hope you can join us around the tables, the place where friends meet and the discussions are always lively.Fa-la-la-la-la, it’s Christmas time …and the full Christmas story is overwhelming!The doors at Cabernet Steakhouse open Friday at 6:30 and we’ll start promptly at 7 AM. Hope you can join us! This is a great month to invite a friend!See you all early!– Ron

This Week’s Key Verses:

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Matthew 1:21-23

A Very Shrewd Dude

Are you shrewd?Would you like to be?In Luke 16:1-13 Jesus tells the parable of a sloppy manager who was squandering the possessions of the rich man he worked for.

When it was reported to the owner what was taking place, he immediately fired this manager but told him to prepare an accounting of the company’s state of affairs before leaving.

Knowing he was too weak for manual labor and too ashamed to beg, the manager devised a plan that would bring him some needed favor and pave his way to be welcomed into the homes of wealthy business people.

He quickly got in touch with various customers and reduced their debt by 20-50%. He worked for a big operation and the amounts owed were significant. The customers gladly took the discount.

This story is filled with shady characters

When the owner found out about this development, he praised this sloppy, unrighteous manager for being a very shrewd dude.

Jesus then said the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the things around them, than are the sons of light.

What? Did Jesus say that?

Yes. Jesus said that He wishes you and I had the type of shrewdness that is all around us.

Shrewdness involves the ability to understand and judge a situation quickly.

Don’t confuse shrewd with shady

Jesus went on to say that we should use wealth to make friends for ourselves now, so that when wealth fails and life ends; these friends will welcome us in eternal dwellings.

Wait… what does that mean?

Jesus then made some bottom-line observations about faithfulness and asked a logical question. If we can’t put our temporal wealth and money into perspective and be faithful in how we use it, who would entrust us with true riches?

He continued:

“If you aren’t faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” – Luke 16:12-13

Jesus is cutting to the bone here. Check it out.

How do we wrap our minds around and apply all of this?

What aspects of relational shrewdness does Jesus want us to embrace?

One Thing for Men’s mission is to spur men on in a closer walk with God! We meet on Friday mornings at Cabernet Steakhouse on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta, Georgia.

I hope you can join us around the tables, where friends meet and the discussions this week, as always, will be lively. Doors open at 6:30 AM and we’ll start promptly at 7.

Hope to see you early!

– Ron Dunn

This Week’s Key Verses:

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can take nothing out. 1 Timothy 6:7

For every beast of the forest is Mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird or the mountains and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains. Psalm 50:9-11

…the land is Mine, and you reside in My land as foreigners and strangers. Leviticus 25:23

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Hebrews 13:14

Don’t Forget to Bring Your Towels!

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Last week we looked into how to pray – persistently. This week we look at Luke 12 where Jesus tells us something not to do…to not be a fool!

We live in an off the charts and still climbing, information and communication age. There are all kinds of pro-active, attractive and brilliant ways information is communicated to us.

Because of all the information targeted our way, we sometimes have to go on the defensive and just tune out. But that doesn’t slow the roll. Bright communicators study our behavior patterns and come back with more aggressive, creative, entertaining & expressive communications that find there way through our barriers and into our mind.

No question, we take in a lot of information. So, here is my question:

are we hearing what it is that we really need to hear?

Amidst all of the emails, texts, apps, and devices; information, advice, perspective and opinions, one important voice needs to be clearly heard.

I am referring to the voice of the one who said He came into the world to bear witness of the truth. He went further and said He is the embodiment of truth …and He claimed the words He was speaking were not His words, but the very words of God.

What Do You Believe?

Now, if you believe Jesus is who and what He claimed to be, then we will agree that what He has to say on any given subject is absolute truth and trumps what anyone else has to say on that topic.

So… with all this information and opinions coming our way, we simply cannot afford not to stop and study and hear Jesus’ voice. That is why we launched this series.

Through parables Jesus teaches the right perspective on all kinds of life topics.

In Luke 12 Jesus tells us something not to do.

Do not be a fool.

Sound advice – so, how do we avoid that?

Jesus ministry was becoming increasingly popular. Thousands of people came out to hear Him teach. The crowd had grown so large that Luke tells us people were stepping on each other. Jesus turned to his disciples and was providing them important perspectives, when some guy yelled out from the crowd, asking Jesus to tell his brother to settle their father’s estate with him.

Jesus’ response was one that will cause you to ask… “Jesus say that?” He then teaches a parable about a fool. Check it out… and join us this Friday morning, around the tables where friends meet and the discussions are lively. The doors open at 6:30 and we’ll start at 7 AM.

Hope to see you early!

~ Ron Dunn

This Week’s Key Verses:

Someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Then he told them this parable… Luke 12:13-16

Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:9

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Proverbs 23:4